South Korea's J.H. Wang on Sunday won the Haikou Open golf tournament, the inaugural event on the PGA Tour China Series.

When the final round began, there appeared to be a sliver of hope that someone could catch Wang, who held a seven-shot lead when the day began. China's Zhang Xinjun had cut Wang's advantage to three shots at one point on the front nine, and it seemed there might be a battle. Then the 18-year-old Wang put his foot on the gas one last time, essentially lapping the field and winning the event by a dominating 10 strokes.

While the series' record book is new, Wang's margin-of-victory total may last a while. After sharing the first-round lead with two others, Wang was just better than everybody else over the final 54 holes at Mission Hills Golf Club's Sandbelt Trails Course - essentially blowing away the field.

"I am so happy to win the first event of PGA Tour China," the native of Seoul said in an official news release. "I never thought I could win before I came here."

Twenty-two natives of China made the cut, and of that group, with only Zhang, in second, ­recording a top-10 finish.

Chinese players in the top 25 included Li Xinyang (tied for 12th), Ouyang Zheng (tied for 12th) and Zhang Lianwei (tied for 20th).

Low-amateur honors went to Dou Zecheng, who finished at three-under and tied for 26th.

Global Times